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Overseas Markets Dip

The holiday must be over. So far today, overseas markets are glum about the first day of the month, following last week's cheery boost on Wall Street. Even though the post-Thanksgiving shopping numbers indicate a gain over last year, perhaps investors are downbeat at some analysts' take that the retail uptick may have been confined to one-day bargain hunting.

In Europe, the markets are down across the board. The DJ Stoxx index is down 3 percent and London's FTSE is down 2 percent. Germany's DAX is down 3.2 percent. In Asia, the picture was more mixed with Japan's Nikkei down 1.3 percent, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.6 percent. The DJ Shanghai index rose 2.2 percent.

Today, much of the news is expected to come from president-elect Barack Obama, who is expected to name several top officials in his administration, including Sen. Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. His press conference is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET.

But there is some economic news to digest too. General Motors and the other U.S. automakers are quickly crafting a plan to win the support of Congress in their bid for bailout money this week, after their first visit to Capitol Hill was unsuccessful.

Today, at 10 a.m. November manufacturing data and October construction spending data will be released.